Vancouver / Names / B / Balcombe

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Balcombes

In the city directories 1940 · four people at four addresses

The directories print four people named Balcombe at four addresses in 1940 in four of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Balcombes lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    134 Powell Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • H Balcombe 1940

    Next door in 1940: W G Humphrey at 132 and Mrs H Omae at 136. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    3117 Renfrew Street

    Renfrew-Collingwood, 1940

    • E H Balcombe, an electrician inspector at the BC Electric Railway 1940

    Next door in 1940: H Ruddick at 3111 and J Sparke at 3123. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    1125 West 11th Avenue

    Fairview, 1940

    • John Balcombe 1940

    Next door in 1940: S Miller at 1135. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    2936 West 8th Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • S E Balcombe, a maintenanceman at Home Oil 1940

    Next door in 1940: E P F Roe at 2940. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the four: an electrician inspector and a maintenanceman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown, Fairview, Kitsilano and Renfrew-Collingwood. Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists H Balcombe at 134 Powell Street. E H Balcombe is listed at 3117 Renfrew Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Edward H Balcombe there as the householder, an electrician inspector at the BC Electric Railway. The 1940 name section lists John Balcombe at 1125 West 11th Avenue.

In 1940 the directory lists S E Balcombe at 2936 West 8th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). The 1940 name section lists Sid E Balcombe there as the householder, a maintenanceman at Home Oil.

Today

134 Powell and 3117 Renfrew still have their buildings from before 1946; the City no longer lists 1125 West 11th and 2936 West 8th, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 6 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Balcombes

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Balcombe name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

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Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under B. Want a name removed? Tell us.